AS I stood by yon roofless tower,
Where the wa’flower scents the dewy air,
Where the howlet mourns in her ivy bower,
And tells the midnight moon her care.
The winds were laid, the air was still,
The stars they shot alang the sky;
The fox was howling on the hill,
And the distant echoing glens reply.
The stream, adown its hazelly path,
Was rushing by the ruin’d wa’s,
Hasting to join the sweeping Nith,
Whase distant roaring swells and fa’s.
The cauld blae North was streaming forth
Her lights, wi’ hissing, eerie din;
Athwart the lift they start and shift,
Like Fortune’s favors, tint as win.
By heedless chance I turn’d mine eyes,
And, by the moonbeam, shook to see
A stern and stalwart ghaist arise,
Attir’d as Minstrels wont to be.
Had I a statue been o’ stane,
His daring look had daunted me;
And on his bonnet grav’d was plain,
The sacred posy—“LIBERTIE!”
And frae his harp sic strains did flow,
Might rous’d the slumb’ring Dead to hear;
But oh, it was a tale of woe,
As ever met a Briton’s ear!
He sang wi’ joy his former day,
He, weeping, wailed his latter times;
But what he said—it was nae play,
I winna venture’t in my rhymes.
—————
The End
And that’s the End of the Poem
© Poetry Monster, 2021.
Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry.
Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic works. Here you’ll find original poems, poetry translations, ancient verses, ballads and even folk tales.
Poetry Monster (or even The Poetry Monster) — is also an international multilingual community of poets and poetry connoisseurs. Join us:
Some external links: The Bat’s Poetry Cave. — Fledermaus’s poetry site. Talking Writing Monster. — the irreverent and irrelevant chatter on subjects both serious and not quite. A free for all board. You can scribble anything on it without registration (but it doesn’t let spammers in). You can even post your poems. Qwant.com. — a search engine from France. It’s an alternative because there are a few alternatives, like Bing, Duckduckgo, and Ecosia. And there is Yandex, the ultimate language-oriented search engine for the Russophone world. Commercial Links: Russian Commerce – the foreign trade assistance agency Other links: Poems and poetry in Russian (if you are reading this in English, as you obviously are, then you’d have to switch the language, the language switch is on the menu. More on languages)
Robert Burns, (born January 25, 1759, Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland—died July 21, 1796, Dumfries, Dumfriesshire), national poet of Scotland. He wrote lyrics, ballads and songs in Scots and in English. He was also notable for his amorous adventures and his rebellion against religion and morality.